{"id":20597,"date":"2012-03-27T17:00:14","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T01:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=20597"},"modified":"2018-02-01T23:05:27","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T23:05:27","slug":"survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meanwhile, support for mining and drilling has gone up<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Wells stretch to the horizon in a Wyoming gas field. A recent Pew survey found increased support in the West for expanded gas and oil drilling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As gas prices surge, support is waning for alternative energy sources, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center<\/a> released last week. The decline has been particularly pronounced in the western U.S., a region characterized in previous surveys by strong support for alternative energy.<\/p>\n

Ebbing enthusiasm for alternatives, according to the survey, is coupled with greater support for \u201ctraditional\u201d gas and oil development. In a survey last year conducted by Pew, 73% of Western respondents said they supported increased development of alternative energy, while only 19% were in support of increased development of traditional sources such as oil, gas and coal.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a year. With the price of gas nationwide averaging close to $4 per gallon <\/a>\u2013 up nearly 9% from the same period last year \u2013 the percentage of respondents in support of alternatives declined by 20 percentage points, whereas support for expanding mining and drilling jumped by 20 points, to 39%.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Memory of BP\u2019s massive Macondo spill \u2013 which spewed an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico<\/a> over five months \u2013 seems to have faded, with about two-out-of-three respondents saying they support increased offshore drilling in U.S. waters \u2013 slightly higher than in February 2010, two months before the BP spill.<\/p>\n

The survey also indicates growing support in the West for hydraulic fracturing, or \u201cfracking,\u201d a controversial method of gas and oil production in which water and other chemicals are injected into the earth at high pressure, in order to release hydrocarbons from surrounding rock formations.<\/p>\n

It’s not clear how well the trends illustrated in the survey match the opinions of Californians. A survey by the Public Policy Institute of California<\/a> conducted last year, for example, found that more than three-quarters of respondents statewide favored a policy requiring one-third of the state\u2019s energy portfolio to come from renewable sources by 2020. “We have seen very consistent support for renewable energy in California,” said Sonja Petek, a survey project manager for the PPIC.<\/p>\n

Petek said there was a similar spike in support for offshore drilling in California a few years back, as gas prices jumped in the run-up to the 2008 election. Unlike this month\u2019s Pew survey, however, increased support for drilling was not met with a corresponding decline in support for auto fuel efficiency standards or renewables, which remained strong (virtually unchanged at 88% and 83%, respectively). \u201cAnd in spite of the ten-point increase,\u201d said Petek, \u201cit was not clear that Californians thought more drilling would significantly reduce gas prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like this month\u2019s Pew survey, last year\u2019s PPIC report showed that views on gas and oil development were sharply divided along partisan lines, with Republicans twice as likely as Democrats to support increased drilling off the California coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meanwhile, support for mining and drilling has gone up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6335,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25,449],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-20597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-power","tag-alternative-energy","tag-public-opinion"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nSurvey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meanwhile, support for mining and drilling has gone up.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-28T01:00:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-01T23:05:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2012\/03\/scenery_jonah_field_rsz_skytruth.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/\",\"name\":\"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners | Climate Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-28T01:00:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-01T23:05:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/2fed2851017653e1f9980ef01b04c7f2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Watch\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/2fed2851017653e1f9980ef01b04c7f2\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Miller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/c74c38da68c83e99993ef2f930b718f5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae9335c733d61d951a3117585e1b64ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae9335c733d61d951a3117585e1b64ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Miller\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Miller is a contributing editor for High Country News, and his stories have appeared in numerous publications including Harper's, Orion, Men's Journal, Earth Island Journal, The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine. He currently lives in the East Bay with his wife, Emma, and children, Deirdre and Owen.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/author\/jeremymiller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners | Climate Watch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners | Climate Watch","og_description":"Meanwhile, support for mining and drilling has gone up.","og_url":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/","og_site_name":"Climate Watch","article_published_time":"2012-03-28T01:00:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-01T23:05:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2012\/03\/scenery_jonah_field_rsz_skytruth.jpg"}],"author":"Jeremy Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Miller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/","url":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/","name":"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners | Climate Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-03-28T01:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-01T23:05:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/2fed2851017653e1f9980ef01b04c7f2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/03\/27\/survey-finds-waning-support-for-alternative-energy-among-westerners\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Survey: Waning Support for Alternative Energy Among Westerners"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/","name":"Climate Watch","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/2fed2851017653e1f9980ef01b04c7f2","name":"Jeremy Miller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/c74c38da68c83e99993ef2f930b718f5","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae9335c733d61d951a3117585e1b64ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ae9335c733d61d951a3117585e1b64ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Miller"},"description":"Jeremy Miller is a contributing editor for High Country News, and his stories have appeared in numerous publications including Harper's, Orion, Men's Journal, Earth Island Journal, The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine. He currently lives in the East Bay with his wife, Emma, and children, Deirdre and Owen.","url":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/author\/jeremymiller\/"}]}},"template_type":null,"featured_image_type":null,"is_audio_post":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24575,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20597\/revisions\/24575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"affiliates","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/affiliates?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/programs?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"collections","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collections?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"interests","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interests?post=20597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}